The Four Pillars of the Year 
Close of Autumn Equinox, we should publish this article excerpt from the magazine "Solstitium Year IV No. 3 -4 December 1979. It allows a cyclical approach to the sense of time and a reflection on the rhythms cosmic. essential reading for the man of militia
The four pillars of the year, the solstices and equinoxes. They form the great cross of the year or the zodiac, whose arms surround the seasons. In a small scale are the solar day and the four phases. The four arms divide the circle of the zodiac signs in four groups of three each, giving the characteristics of their respective seasons. Each date marks the beginning of a new period, different from the previous year, when the sun takes a different form and meaning. The four phases will happen regularly and everything takes on a sense of a constant rotation around a center that acts as a pivot to the whole movement. The four stages of the year corrispondono ai quattro elementi ed il sole alla luce che li comprende e li trasfigura. Ogni periodo ha un riflesso esterno e uno interno, creando il presupposto di una stagione interiore che è nostro compito analizzare.
Il primo pilastro è il Solstizio d'inverno, data significativa in ogni tradizione, che segna astronomicamente l'inizio dell'inverno. Corrisponde alla posizione del Sole nel punto più basso dell'orizzonte ed alla maggiore disuguaglianza tra giorno e notte: qui la notte è più lunga del giorno. Il 22 dicembre segna la data ufficiale del calendario "astronomico" dell'anno.1 Da questo momento prende inizio la serie ascendente che porterà in avanti il giorno fino al futuro solstizio estivo, in cui i rapporti si invertiranno. Astrologically, this date marks the passage of the Sun in Capricorn (Earth sign), to be followed by Aquarius and Pisces. In the symbolism of the day instead corresponds to the point where the sun reaches the summit of his descent: the midnight, which is opposite to the zenith meridian.
In ancient Egypt, was symbolized in the form of Khephra, the beetle, clear picture of the sun and hidden underground.
Esotericamente2 this moment is one of the most important and significant. Marks the point at which the outside in the cold and silent in the silence and the inner lives of their own light. The sun has now turned inward consciousness of self and soul at midnight everything is ready for a new survey. E 'in questo istante senza tempo che venivano eseguite le antiche cerimonie di iniziazione ai misteri dell'lo, nel profondo di grotte e caverne, a Mezzanotte in punto. Tramite esse una luce virtuale, occulta, veniva accesa nell'animo dell'adepto, che ora attendeva la nascita del proprio seme. E' in Inverno infatti che il seme, giacendo sotto la neve ed il gelo, dorme e matura i suoi frutti futuri. Ritualmente il nuovo periodo è rivolto alle opere della Terra: alla creazione cioè di basi e realtà concrete che facciano da perno ad ogni futura attività e alla coagulazione di precedenti iniziative. I tre segni invernali del Capricorno, dell'Acquario e dei Pesci suggeriscono un clima di freddezza, di silenzio e umidità che deve essere sciolto prima that the heat of the sun brings with it the Spring. This is
March 21, the second pillar of the annual date of the vernal equinox or bottom-up, in which what was buried back in the light now. In the symbolism marks the point when day equals night that from now on it will always be shorter than the day. The midnight sun is now risen above the horizon and the day is in equilibrium with the night: the Egyptian Ra, the sun hidden now becomes visible. The plan zodiac the sun passes into Aries (Fire Sign), to be followed by Taurus and Gemini.
II esoteric meaning in the light of spring is all that now stands. The occult is made manifest, the earth opens under the thrust of the Fire and kicks to life. The inner light now becomes visible on the outside, which comes alive with its own life. The hidden seed springs from the earth and all nature is covered with greenery and flowers. The interior light is projected on the outside and gives life to the world, now is seen as equipped with its own interiority. Nature already dead is now animated by mysterious meanings that become clearly visible to the conscience. E 'in this period that were performed the rites of initiation into the cosmic creation, with the aim of reducing what was previously separate from Being, but now tend to coalesce with him. Sacred orgies and fertility rites had this purpose, because sex is spiritual.
The purpose was to recognize the external universe, regarded as divine: This is you, according to ancient Eastern wisdom. The exterior and interior are two faces of an identical reality, which dominates them. This ritual is the period of the fire, which launches initiatives of any kind, given that personal creativity is stimulated by this flame that now burns visible. We are driven to act in any case, to move, to grow and flourish in a continuous succession of impulses, ideas and feelings. E 'known as the Spring eros affect animal and human waking up and multiplying like. Less well known as it is, however, goes beyond mere instinctual drive. II sex Life itself and nell'adepto the mysteries of light manifests itself in other ways unknown to the common man. The sex that is released from the low tension and salt, brought by the flame which rises upwards investing ideas, wishes and feelings of a new light and fertility. The adept that is fruitful in the upper rather than lower and sex becomes a way for their liberation from human bonds. The flame that goes up, fed from the air (the Twins) and supported by the Earth (Taurus) rises to its zenith and started the summer.
This begins June 22, the day of the Summer Solstice and third pillar year. Here the day is longer than night and the year and the light is at its peak. E 'on a triumphal che segna la vittoria della luce sull'oscurità e il pieno sole meridiano. Corrisponde infatti all'ora del Mezzogiorno, in cui il sole è allo zenith e irradia al massimo luce e calore. Nel simbolismo egizio è Hathoor, il dio della luce meridiana e pienamente manifesta opposta a quella del Sole di Mezzanotte. Nella volta celeste il sole occupa ora il punto più alto e i suoi raggi arrivano perpendicolari alla luce terrestre. L'arco di luce è massimo e ricaccia la notte nella sua dimora oscura: ora tutto è in pieno sole e chiede di essere completamente manifestato. Astronomicamente il Sole entra nel Cancro (segno dell'Acqua), seguito dal Leone e dalla Vergine. Esotericamente questo periodo segna il momento in cui esterno e interno, Essere e Natura, are perfectly united and harmonized, exalted to the highest degree. Summer is the triumph of sex, life and works undertaken. It 's the time when the wheat is harvested and brown, in which under the heat of the sun takes on a golden hue, a sign of perfection and completion. Summer brings with it a golden crown, which the adept takes as a sign of victory over his lower nature. It 's the time when the matter is that the Red and the rewards are waiting to be plucked from his hand. In the ancient rites of this period was a testimony of victory perhaps formed the media for any coronation ceremony. Summer is the time of the ritual of Water, in which there shall be spread throughout the world as it is perceived and understood in the Spring. Now everything has to take shape in activities with the outside world and bring it in line with what is vibrating inside. Similar in this water, which expands and tends to merge with his surroundings, including all in itself. This reflects the old idea of \u200b\u200bUnity and of the absence of any other beside himself. External reality is illusion precisely because it is unable to experience it as being a part of themselves. In taking a positive sense of the world body expands and comes to include within it all the external nature and the creatures that inhabit it. To limit individual consciousness expands until dissolving into a state of cosmic consciousness that represents perfection dell'Opera. E il Fuoco del Sole allo zenith provvede a fornirgli un aspetto attivo.
Facendo seguito al periodo estivo, l'Autunno avanza come un lento ripensamento. La fiamma della passione si riduce dando luogo ad un periodo di intensa riflessione, in cui il mondo esterno è filtrato attraverso lo schermo dei propri pensieri e si giudica quanto si è fatto. E' il 23 settembre, data dell'Equinozio d'Autunno o discendente e quarto pilastro dell'anno. La notte è ora di nuovo uguale al giorno, ma in forma diversa che in Primavera. La vita ora si ritira lentamente in se stessa e medita sul passato. Astrologicamente il Sole entra nella Bilancia (segno d'Aria), seguita dallo Scorpione e dal Sagittario. Nel giorno corrisponde all'ora del Tramonto, the Egyptian Tum, where the light is balanced with the dark and tends slowly to death. It 'sad hour in which the ghosts of the past and resurrect old and new ideas crowd the mind, which turns to the immediate past and it just reckoning. It 's the time when they reap the rewards and the wheat is sown to be born in the new year. Esoterically the light of Being withdraws from the outside and tends to coagulate in their spiritual origin, such as giving the impression of a slow death that takes the interior and exterior nature. E 'in this period that were practiced rites of purification and abstinence, to get rid of everything and start the new year renewed inwardly. Usually the immediately preceding period of abstinence the date of the Winter Solstice. The evening goes to the night is an hour of purification in which the stronger should the sun shine inside, no longer obscured by the light of day, and dusk is to enter silent. This ritual is the period of the Air: intelligence and understanding of what has been done and what you will. The light now shines clear in his mind and allows an objective opinion on their deeds and misdeeds. You can even smile at him, with patient tolerance, but now everything is behind themselves and should be left aside.
And so we return to the winter. The zodiac circle has taken a new turn and is preparing to light the fires of what will be the beginning of a new year.
Nemo.
NOTE 1: The Solstices, the Equinoxes as correspond to a particular astronomical event. By convention are located in some specific days on the calendar. love, because of the six-hour difference from one year to another (the oath of one year is 365 days and six hours), is determined every four years on February 29 (leap year), so the date they fall into the solstices and equinoxes
is not always the same time and in any case, however, differ from the previous year.
2: Esoteric, means teaching to a "knowledge" (esoteric) which, by its special nature and strength, not given to the scope of all. The teaching of traditional doctrine, which is directed indiscriminately, as compared to the qualification of the individual, is called exoteric;
teaching, which is aimed at people most qualified and able to be sensitive and receptive to certain messages, it says esoteric. Be noted that there is very esoteric teaching can not be understood by those who did not in itself the conditions for their learning.
